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Happy Halloween! Although we’re across the ocean without much time to celebrate the holiday, a few of us kept up with the festivities. Emmalyn and I dressed up as each other, Haley was Beetlejuice, and Saori spent the day as Yoko Ono.

Soon after our breakfast croissants and coffee, we piled onto the bus and headed into San Sebastian. We went out to a famous pier called El Peine Del Viento (The Comb of the Wind) that a few of us who had spent the day in San Sebastian a few days earlier had discovered with the help of our awesome guides. With the wind in our faces and a phenomenal view of the city outlined by the crashing waves of the Atlantic, we rehearsed tucked away in a small hillside nook on the pier. After rehearsal, we all picked a rendezvous point and split up to explore the city for a few hours before our concert.

Emmalyn and I walked around the city, marveling the sights. We crossed a giant bridge with some interesting statues on it, went into a variety of shops and bakeries, and sat on open patios soaking up the sun. At one point I believe there was some freestyle rapping in english and spanish about the fat pigeons (seriously they are huge), but I won’t go into that too much. (When you’re tired everything is much funnier in the moment than it probably is in reality.) We also were granted the awesome experience of singing inside this HUGE cathedral. It was gorgeous and incredible beyond words. Water Night sounded great bouncing off of stone that has been standing for thousands of years. The concert was once again amazing, ending with endless “bravo’s”, two encores, and two or three standing ovations. It’s truly incredible being able to talk to so many people after these concerts (I speak spanish) and hear how much this music means to these people. It’s a beautiful thing to share such a moment with an audience who really understands and connects with this style of music. Honestly these concerts have been life-changing for both the choir and the audience in a lot of ways. I love being able to be a part of creating a better image musically (and personality-wise) of our country, one concert at a time. These experiences will be in my heart forever, and I couldn’t be more thankful. Hasta Luego, Rue